


Of Grape Mentats and Wasteland Survival

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Recreational Drug Use, Voltron Fallout AU, angsty keefo, hints of klance, vague Klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 09:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15704406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith has been traveling with the strange vault dweller for a couple weeks now. They're just full of surprises.(Yes, I did make Keith Cait in this au because I love punishing my angsty boi)





	Of Grape Mentats and Wasteland Survival

“So, where did they pick you up from?” The question is quick and there’s more a sneer in it than anything else. Keith turns to see a tall man in a navy newsboy cap and long blue leather jacket leaning through the broken window of the truck stop. The man is just as dirty as the rest of them, it’s hard to stay clean in the wasteland, but something about those bright blue eyes is just so clear Keith could look past the soot smudges.

“Uh, the Combat Zone. I’m Keith. That one-” Keith points over to Pidge, who at the moment is deep in conversation with Shiro. Keith couldn’t hear what the two were talking about, but he could tell it was serious with the way Pidge scowls and their shoulders slump. They had spent a lot of time together, at least two weeks if Keith counted the days right, so Keith had at least picked up on some of the other’s habits. “-murdered every goddamn raider in the place so now I’m traveling around with them.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Greenie,” the man chuckles, a little smile playing on his features. Keith eyes the stranger wearily though his mind focusing on the itch that’s crawling up his neck. He shivers despite the sun shining down on them. 

“Greenie?” Keith asks softly, more curious than anything else. 

“The Pip-Boy. It’s just a nickname,” the man in blue hums before standing up straight and walking out the door just to the right of the window. “Green just so happens to be their favorite color.” 

“You know a lot about Pidge?” Keith asks, wondering just how many people Pidge has convinced to join them. According to the ex-vault dweller, they were a friend of ‘the’ Minute Men, so they had a couple settlements on their side. 

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t.” 

And that’s when Keith narrows his eyes. He takes in the appearance of the man in front of him and thinks back to when the Combat Zone was at its prime. Some men always seemed to complain about an obnoxious reporter that poked around.

“You Lance McClain?” He grunts, brow raised. 

“The one and only!” The man exclaimed, a proud grin flashing brightly. Keith rolls his eyes before turning on his heel. He did  _ not _ want to get mixed up with that man- reporters were always bad news. Especially when you did what Keith did. 

“H-Hey! Where are you going?” Lance’s voice calls from behind Keith. 

“Anywhere away from you,” Keith calls back as he watches a dog -Rover, he learns its name later- dart in front of him before practically jumping on Pidge. He hears their giggling and knows that they’re probably rolling around with the dog on the ground. Pidge always did better with non-humans. Rover and Coran were prime examples of this. Then again, Pidge managed to rake in all of these people. Keith glances around the old truck stop. It was pretty small -for a settlement at least- but it was well supplied and heavily defended. Pidge did a damn good job. 

Despite the itch settling in his skin and despite the ache in his bones from all of the traveling they did, Keith somehow felt more okay than he had in awhile. He stalks away, into a small little supply shed not too far away from one of the main generators, and takes a deep breath. He knows that Pidge would kill him but going cold turkey after years of chems is  _ hard _ and he aches for  _ something _ right now. He swallows thickly before wiggling the small box out of his boot. 

It was some grape mentats he had picked up off of some raider that tried to attack them one night. It was way too easy to sneak the drugs into his boot without Pidge noticing, it was only the second day of them traveling together. He wondered why Pidge didn’t keep such a close eye on him before chalking it up to dumb vault-dweller trust. Pidge was pre-war. They just didn’t get the world. 

As Keith pops two of the pills in his mouth, he takes his time to think about things. He could feel his shoulders relaxing and the itch slowly subsiding as the synthetic grape taste spread on his tongue. He closes his eyes, just savoring the drug for once in his life. He silently wonders if Pidge trusts him so much because of the others. If they walked out of the vault and managed to survive on dumb luck only. It doesn’t seem likely, Pidge is too clever to do that. Then again, Pidge was also from a different time. They were clean, nothing like the rad ridden population around them, they weren’t as scarred or as calloused as the rest of them. Pidge was new, like a small child to Keith. 

He shook his head, exiting the small wooden shack quietly. He’s glad to see that Pidge is still playing with Rover. He sneaks around the building, checking out the gardening patch. No one is there right now, as most of the chores are finishing. The sky is clear and vibrant as the sun sets, all bright reds, oranges, and purples. No greens. Keith chews on his lip as he glances around. The only green one saw in the wasteland was the unnatural green of mutated ferals and animals. Or the emerald color the sky turned during the rare but toxic rad-storms.

Keith thought back to the stories he heard from pre-war ghouls. Back to the old books he read. The world was once green- once the ground and the trees were nothing but bright green. Keith wonders if Pidge’s favorite color was green because of that and his heart sinks at the realization that Pidge will never see that again. 

Keith glances down at the box in his hands. There’s still at least eight pills in there but for once Keith doesn’t want any of them. He closes the box, feeling sick. He hates this hell hole. Hates everything about his fucked up life. But there was Pidge, someone who lost  _ everything _ but still wandered the wasteland with a fucking smile. Keith hated himself for going back on his word with Pidge. He crosses over to where the others were, silently tossing the box into the fire on his way past. He meets Pidge’s gaze but doesn’t say anything. 

As the group of them gather around the fire, Keith begins to understand why they were there. Pidge brought them together for a reason. Pidge wanted their family and goddamnit Keith was going to bring it back to them. This person, this  _ kid _ , wiggled their way into his jaded heart and made their place there. Keith could only assume they did the same with everyone else around the campfire. Even the man in the tin can across from him, Shiro is the name he’s given when he asks Lance. 

And when they all turn in for the night, Keith getting his own little shack beside Pidge's, Keith makes a promise. And when he lays down in his own bed, something he never had before, he whispers that promise. “I’ll get you to your family, Pidge. Even if it means my life, I swear you’ll see them again.”


End file.
